


Faulty Mystical Spells

by Aaronlisa



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: Gen, what if
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-10
Updated: 2019-12-10
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:21:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21747445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aaronlisa/pseuds/Aaronlisa
Summary: Hank doesn't want to be a deadbeat dad but something's stopping him from being a good dad.
Kudos: 8





	Faulty Mystical Spells

**Author's Note:**

> This is a what if fic set around Season Four that tries to answer why Hank Summers basically disappeared from Buffy's life.

"June, can you schedule a time for me to call my daughter?" 

"Of course, Mr. Summers," June replied. "Do you have a specific time in mind?" 

If she thought it odd that Hank Summers need to schedule a time to call his daughter, she thankfully kept it to herself. Something that Hank was grateful for. He felt like the worse father ever. 

"Sometime after school would be best. I believe she should be home after 4:00 PM."

"Very well, Mr. Summers, how does 4:15 sound? You will have up to 30 minutes to speak to her before your appointment with Mr. Valdez." 

"Perfect!"

Thirty minutes to talk to his only daughter sounded far too short and he hated having to schedule it in as if she was a client but every time he had tried calling her when he was at home - either after his work day or on the weekends - something would crop up. Or worse, he'd forget to call his daughter. What type of father would forget to call his daughter? To make time for her? 

When he and Joyce and divorced, he had promised Joyce that even with the move, that he'd not become _that_ father who just sent money but forget that he had children. He was proud of his daughter. And sure her last year of high school had been rough on them both. He had been busy expanding his property management company into northern California and beyond. And from what he had gleaned from Joyce and Buffy, his daughter had been focused on her academics to ensure that she'd get into college.

But he had managed to call every week and email almost every other day. And then after she had graduated - something he had had to miss since he had an important trip to Boston that he could not change - he had insisted that Buffy spend two weeks of the summer with them. And it was as if they had never been apart. Buffy was still his favourite girl.

Yet ever since she had returned back home to Sunnydale, things had become odd. Hank suspects that any other father would consider it a normal strain on their father-daughter relationship, especially with Buffy preparing for college. But it just felt wrong. Hank couldn't quite explain how it felt wrong, just that it did. It was akin to an aching tooth. And he had tried to call Joyce and Buffy on several occasions. He had even tried to email then. Once he had gotten in his car and attempted the drive only to get stuck in never-ending traffic that only seemed to clear when he had finally turned around and returned home. 

* * * 

His day is a busy one. Call after call and meeting after meeting. But at 3:45 PM, he ends his current call and goes to make himself a cup of coffee. Today he's going to speak to his daughter. He returns to his office after giving June a big smile. He closes the door and even though it's not quite 4:00 PM, he thinks it'll be okay to call earlier than planned. 

He dials the familiar number and counts down the rings. One - two - three - four - five ... and he's almost about to hang up so that he can dial the gallery, when the line is picked up. 

"Hello?" 

The voice is somewhat familiar but at the same time it's not. The young woman sounds short of breath. Maybe it's that friend of Buffy's - Willa or Willow? 

"Hello may I speak to Buffy please?" Hank asks. 

"Dad is that you?" 

The girl is not Buffy and certainly not one of her friends. Hank feels nauseous. His chest hurts and his hands feel clammy. Isn't this what a heart attack feels like? 

"Wh-who are you?" Hank manages to spit out.

"Daddy, it's me Dawn." 

"I think I have the wrong number," Hank says as he slams the phone down. 

He can hear the girl calling him as he moves the receiver from his ear to the cradle. Something is wrong. He loosens his tie. And he takes a deep breath. There's something at the back of his mind. A half-form memory of Joyce and him going to the hospital. Joyce is pregnant but she doesn't look like she did when he drove her to the hospital when she was going through labour with Buffy. His mind tries to tell him something but he shuts it down. 

Hank takes a gulp of his coffee before he buzzes June on the intercom. 

"June!" Hank barks out. 

"Yes, Mr. Summers?" June politely asks. 

"I need you to dial Joyce's house number and connect me through," Hank orders her. 

"Of course, Mr. Summers. one moment please."

The irritating hold music comes on. However this time, instead of it being some soft jazz, it has more of a Spanish feel, almost Flamenco, in nature. He thinks about asking June about it when a beep signals she is on the line again. 

"Hello Mr. Summers thank you for holding, I have your daughter on the line, please go ahead." 

He waits for the tell-tale beep to indicate June is off the line. 

"Hello Buffy," Hank calmly says. 

"Daddy, it's Dawn, not Buffy."

His heart starts to pound in his chest, and his mouth goes dry as sweat seems to pour out of him. He knows her but doesn't. It feels as if a million memories are trying to be shoved into his brain all at once. 

_Joyce telling him that she's pregnant again. Their fights over another child. His business is struggling and he can barely afford to feed Joyce and Buffy as it is. Then racing to the hospital because Joyce has gone into labour early. And then holding Dawn for the first time. They had decided on the name because she was finally born just as dawn was breaking._ And a million more memories and they all hurt. 

"Dawnie?" Hank whispers into the phone. 

"Yes, Daddy it's me," 

And for thirty minutes they talk and Hank feels okay. He doesn't get a chance to speak to Buffy or Joyce before he has to go. He tells her that he loves her very much and that they will talk soon. He even promises that he will arrange a weekend visit with her mother very soon. Since Dawn has hinted that Buffy is very busy with school, it'll just be the two of them and Hank figures that he can always arrange something with Buffy for another weekend. 

After the line is disconnected, he buzzes June again and asks for her to bring him some water and medication for the headache that he has. By the time, he has spoken with Mr. Valdez, Hank barely remembers his conversation with Dawn or with the Summers household in Sunnydale. He sees a doodle on his desktop calendar of a rising sun and the words _don't forget Dawn_ under it but he's not sure what it means. He thinks about asking June but it makes him feel uncomfortable for some reason.

When June leaves for the day, she hands him her notes of the day. At 4:00 PM, he sees that she has carefully written down that _HS made on incomplete call to JS residence prior to 16:00. Requested that I connect him through. Call was successfully patched through. Duration of call approx. 30 minutes._

Who did he speak to for nearly 30 minutes? He can't recall any conversations with anyone at the Summers household. Neither his ex-wife nor Buffy. And the more that he tries to think about it, the more his head hurts. He shoves, he note in his desk drawer and locks up his desk for the night. All the while he tells himself that it's nothing. 

* * * 

At the end of three months, Hank Summers has spoken to Buffy once and Joyce twice. Both conversations were short but strained. He can recall the bulk of the conversations but there are parts where he has seemingly blanked out. In his desk drawer, there are notes from June with his daily schedule that have logged periods where he has called his daughter in Sunnydale but he has no recollection of the calls. All he is has is a blank space in his memory and a string of migraine headaches. 

His doctor has told him that it's overwork and June has implied as much. But it feels like something so much more. Especially when he's hanging up his phone and he has no memory of the call. Just a doodle on his calendar with the words _don't forget_ written under it. He buzzes June and orders her into his office. 

"June, I know this is going to sound odd, but who was I just on the phone with?" 

June looks at him blankly. "Sir?" 

"The phone, who was I on the phone with?"

"I don't know, Mr. Summers, I don't recall putting anyone through. Let me check my log." 

She leaves the room and comes back almost immediately. She shrugs her shoulders at him. And he realizes how shapely her shoulders are. He thinks about how he's supposed to get away this weekend. But with whom and where?

"There's no record of an incoming or outgoing call, Mr. Summers, I'm very sorry." 

"Don't worry about it," Hank tells her. 

She's almost at the door when he calls out to her. 

"June, book a flight for two for Spain this weekend."

"Of course, Mr. Summers." 

"And June, will you go with me?"

"Of course, Mr, Summers." 

* * *

The trip is business related. Otherwise, why would he have brought June with him. Even if neither of them can remember what business it is. The plane flies over Southern California and for a brief moment, Hank remembers what he is running away from: his family that consists of his ex-wife, Joyce, and his two beautiful daughters, Buffy and Dawn. He's not even really sure why he and Joyce broke up. He knows that he still loves her and misses her every single day. 

And then the moment is gone. He flags over the stewardess and orders a bottle of champagne for the life that he and June are about to embark on.

((END))


End file.
